125 Years Albert Einstein
Jörg Wiedenmann and his co-workers at the University of Ulm have cloned and studied a GFP-like protein from stony coral. The protein, which they have called EosFP, normally fluoresces green but when irradiated with near UV light the fluorescence changes to red. The change in color occurs due to a break in the protein backbone. Besides many practical applications the protein has also been used to create a very cool work of art, shown below. It was exhibited at an art exhibition entitled 125 Years Albert Einstein. The top left image is the initial photograph of Albert Einstein used to create the series of EosFP modified images. Millions of EosFPs were linked to a plastic film that covered the photograph (top right), the EosFP was excited and the green fluorescent image was photographed (bottom left) before photoconverting the protein to the red fluorescent form (bottom right).